How to Say ‘Yes’ in Korean

‘Yes’ is one of the most important words to learn in any language. By being able to say ‘yes’, you can give yourself many new exciting opportunities and experiences. This article will teach you how to say ‘yes’ in Korean. This will be the first step towards you having a great experience learning about Korea and the Korean language

The first thing to remember, is that ‘yes’ is used slightly differently in Korean than it is in English. In a lot of situations where you would usually say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in English, you would use a verb in Korean.

You would use ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Korean in either its regular (positive) form (if you are saying ‘yes’) or in its negative form (if you are saying ‘no’). See the bonus section at the end of this article for some examples of this.

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‘Yes’ in Korean

 

There is more than one way to say ‘yes’ in Korean. In fact, different words are used based on how polite you want to be.

 

Formal ‘Yes in Korean

1. 예 (ye)

This one should be easy to remember; it sounds almost the same as the English word ‘yeah’, just a little bit shorter. This is used in formal situations.

Example:

미국사람입니까? (mi-guk-sa-ram-im-ni-kka?)

Are you American?

예, 미국사람입니다. (ye, mi-guk-sa-ram-im-ni-da)

Yes, I am American.

 

Standard ‘Yes’ in Korean

 

1. 네 (ne)

This one might be a bit more confusing as it sounds like a negative word in English. 네 and 예 are often used interchangeably regardless of politeness level.

Example:

김치를 좋아하세요? (gim-chi-reul joh-a-ha-se-yo?)

Do you like gimchi?

네, 좋아해요. (ne, joh-a-hae-yo)

Yes, I like gimchi

 

Informal ‘Yes’ in Korean

 

 

1. 응 / 어 (eung / eo)

The standard informal word for ‘yes’ is 응, but males often say 어 instead. These words sound very informal so be careful about when to use them.

Example #1:

나 예뻐? (na ye-ppeo?)

Am I pretty?

어, 너무 예뻐! (eo, neo-mu ye-ppeo!)

Yes, very pretty.

 

Example #2:

이거 좋아? (i-geo joh-a?)

Is this good?

응, 좋아 (eung, joh-a)

Yes, it’s good.

 

A word of caution about Romanization

We’ve added in the Romanization for all of these words to help with pronunciation. However, we recommend that you try to move onto reading comfortably in Hangul (the Korean alphabet), as this will improve your pronunciation and your reading skills. It will also help you notice patterns in words, which will lead you to improve the rate at which you learn new Korean words and grammar points.

You can download a free guide to learn the Korean alphabet in about an hour here.

Learning vocabulary words is a great way to help you learn the basics of a language, but your language learning will only really take off one you start attempting to have conversations in Korean. Take a look at our free list of Korean phrases or our full Korean course for all the help you will need when studying Korean.

 

Bonus: Other ways of saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in Korean

 

Often, in Korean, you can respond using the verb from the question rather than saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. (All the following examples are in the standard politeness level).

 

Example #1:

포인트카드를 있어요? (po-in-teu ka-deu-reul iss-eo-yo?)

Do you have a point card?

있어요 (iss-eo-yo)

Yes, I do [literally – it exists]

없어요 (eops-eo-yo)

No, I don’t [literally – it doesn’t exist]

 

Example #1:

스티브의 휴대폰번호를 알아요? (seu-ti-beu-e hyu-dae-pon-beon-ho-reul al-a-yo?)

Do you know Steve’s cell phone number?

알아요 (al-a-yo)

Yes, I do [literally – I know]

몰라요 (mol-la-yo)

No, I don’t [literally – I don’t know]

 

Now that you know how to say ‘yes’ in Korean, start saying ‘yes’ and enjoy lots of new experiences!

 

*Want more Korean phrases? Go to our Korean Phrases Page for a complete list!

Learn to read Korean and be having simple conversations, taking taxis and ordering in Korean within a week with our FREE Hangeul Hacks series: http://www.90DayKorean.com/learn

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